30s AD Reenacting

[M. Demetrius]

...and the Christyian account says the auxilaries used SPEARS, not pila. Otherwise how would Thomas put his hand in the wound left by the spear? Maybe his finger in the pila wound, but....

If it helps at all, the Latin Vulgate Bible uses the word "Lancea" instead of spear. Hastae and Lanceae were similar, some even say interchangeable words, but either one would make a terrible wound piercing between ribs, through a lung into the heart.

The "lorica" (hamata for the auxilia) mentioned above--wouldn't that have been likely not worn during a crucifixion, at least for the work crew? Gladius, yes, pugio if present, yes, helmet, maybe not--probably just a work cap or nothing. Shield and spear? Yeah, probably on site, but not necessarily in the workmen's hands.

There would be fully armed guards along in the event of need for crowd control, I'd reckon, but nobody much would tangle with a dozen Roman auxilia, knowing how many hundreds would retaliate most likely on the same day. They knew the consequences of attacking or assaulting Roman soldiers. The Bible account mentions that there was a centurion present, so it seems reasonable to think there were more than just a couple of men on duty when crucifixions took place.

In Acts 23:23, we read a listing of at least some of the soldiers who were present--200 soldiers, 70 cavalry, 200 spearmen, evidently under command of at least two centurions.

The soldiers not called spearmen, what would they have been? We generally think of all auxilliary footmen as spearmen. Could they have been simple light infantry? something akin to velites?

Any way you go, though, that's a pretty formidable guard detail, considering they were escorting a prisoner.